The Great Railway Show Rematch
The Great Railway Show Rematch is the sixteenth episode in the fifteenth series and the sixth two-part special which is slated for release on Fall 2027. It is the special that deals with the cover of Cars 3. Synopsis Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast contestants, the legendary Thomas is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the race, he will need the help of an eager young event technician, Holly, with her own plan to win, plus inspiration from Bertie and a few unexpected turns. Proving that Thomas isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champion on Doncaster Grand Prix's biggest stage against his new rival, Lexx. #New competitors are introduced. #Thomas has won the Shunting Challenge in the Great Railway Show but not like the last time he did since The Great Race. #Thomas involved in an accident in the Wales Grand Prix and was pushed out on the event he loves. #To get back in the race, he will need help of an eager event technician, Holly, with her plan to win. Plot Part 1 After the events of Railway Trip (or after the fourteenth series and One in the Family), Thomas now brings Hiro to all of his races (such as The Great Railway Show since Thomas won the Shunting Challenge along with Jyoti, Gina, Ivan, and Raul) and was still racing with his long time friends Eddie and Giselle until a mysterious Russian steam locomotive named Lexx, who is part of a new generation of race engines who use the latest technology to run faster than veteran racers, comes from nowhere to beat him. At the next race, there are six more high-tech engines, and Eddie, Giselle, and the rest of the old race engines decide to retire. At the next race, Thomas has the lead, but Lexx catches up and overtakes him. Thomas tries to catch up, but the points are broken until he hits them, and he launches into a barrel roll, becoming badly injured. Four months later, Thomas is recovering back in Sodor, and informs his best friend Percy that he doesn't want to be forced into retiring, like his mentors Duck or Gordon, but he also can't race like before. He tells him to try something new, and Thomas decides to start training again. Thomas calls Theo, Lexi and Merlin, the experimental engines, saying that he wants to train like Lexx, and they inform him that they're opening the York Event Center (with the help of Hurricane and Frankie). Thomas travels there, only for Theo, Lexi and Merlin to tell him that in order to pay for the facility, they sold brochures to a tender engine named Maximilian, who introduces him to his trainer, Holly, who is a big fan of him. Thomas attempts to use the simulator in the facility to train, but he shoots forward and crashes into the screen in the process. Maximilian then tells him that he's not going to race anymore, and that in order to provide Maximilian with revenue, he will be selling legacy merchandise instead. Thomas begs for one more race, agreeing to retire if he loses, and Maximilian allows him to train at the coaling mine with the help of Holly. Thomas is able to train on the coal mine and help Holly become experienced as well, but his top speed is 198 mph, which is still slower than Lexx. Thomas sees a dirt track known as Norwich and decides to do more difficult training there. At the speedway, Thomas comes upon the Norwich Railway Speedway, the Railroad Crossing Derailment Derby and he and Holly are joined by a huge diesel engine named Miss Bluff. The derby starts and after Thomas challenges Miss Bluff to avoid hitting Holly, she becomes the last undamaged engine. Because of this, Holly is declared the winner and Thomas becomes upset that he failed to win. Not only that, Holly accidentally trips over Howard that blasts water on Thomas, blowing his cover and revealing his identity to the crowd. Part 2 While leaving Norwich, Thomas gets angry at Holly, telling her that instead of making progress in being faster than Lexx, he is too busy taking care of her. Upon hearing this, Holly says she wanted to become a racer her whole life because of him, but when she got to her first race, she saw that all of the other engines looked stronger, and therefore left. Holly then leaves Thomas, Sir Topham Hatt, Winston and Sam on her own. Thomas sees a report on TV that Lexx set a new record for the fastest lap in a race. He calls up Hiro to get some good advice and he replies that Duck's trainer would know the most about racing. Knowing his trainer to be a large Great Western engine named Colton, Thomas persuades Holly to help look for him. Arriving at Bridlington Goods Yard where the Great Race usually take place, they come across Colton and Thomas says he doesn't want the crash that happened to Gordon to happen to him. Colton shows Thomas a shed containing a whole wall of pictures of himself and Gordon together. He tells Thomas that coaching him was the best part of Gordon's life and that he can be smarter than Lexx. Thomas participates in a practice race against Holly, but he still can't catch up to her. After watching footage that shows Gordon drafting ahead of Etienne after drafting, Holly and Thomas are successfully able to complete the exercises. They perform a final practice race, and Thomas takes the lead down the final stretch. However, he then has a flashback to his crash and loses the race, before heading off with Holly and Colton to the opening race in Doncaster. At the race, Thomas lines up in the last position due to his failure to appear at the qualifier and he passes the other racers using the skills he learned at the dirt track. However, Maximilian informs Holly that she cannot watch because she is merely a trainer, and when a wreck occurs on the track and Thomas pulls into the station, he decides to have Holly finish for him in order for her to have a chance at racing. After two laps, Lexx pulls up behind the pack of racers and she picks her way between them before pulling right behind Lexx on the last lap. When they approach the finish line, Lexx rams her almost close to the points, but Holly snakes past Lexx in a manner similar to Gordon, thereby winning the race. Upon this victory, she rejects Maximilian's offer to race for him and signs up for team Giselle instead. After Thomas notices that he and Holly are both declared as the winners, he decides to continue racing. Back at Sodor, Holly (now as The Shooting Star) and Thomas (now in his real streamlined form since The Great Race) learn that Lexi has bought the Great Railway Show and taken over their events. They then perform a practice race together using their newfound skills. In a post-credits scene, Hiro has trouble with his smartphone when he tries answering a call. Characters *Thomas *Edward *Henry *Gordon *James *Percy *Toby *Emily *Ashima *Vinnie *Gina *Frieda *Ivan *Raul *Yong Bao *Axel *Carlos *Étienne *Shane *Rajiv *Nia *Rebecca *Hurricane *Merlin *Frankie *Theo *Lexi *Joy *Jazz *Yoshi *Darwin *Sir Topham Hatt Winston, Hiro, Flying Scotsman, Kentaro and Tomoko are likely to appear. Characters Introduced *Holly *Chester *Lexx *Eddie *Pashina *Sarah *Wyatt *Nathan *Danielle *Jyoti *Giselle *Portia *Quinn *Brackett *Sevrud *Jasper *Harley *Miss Bluff *Miss Confusion *D-Lay *Axi-dante *Gopher *High Pressure *Huff and Puff *Buffy *Snap *Spottacus *Tarpy *Smokestacker *Mrs. Overheated *Brightside *Pullover *Colton *Lacey *Emeritus *Drew *Maximilian *Rookie Race Engines *Shannon Spake Songs *Run That Race - Terry Tompkins, Tracy Blagdon, Neil Crone, Steve D'Angelo and Piero D'Aloisio *Kings Railway - Sam Blewitt *Bouje - J. Perry ft. Shabba (no music video) *Glory Days - Eden Sher (no music video) *Ride - Sharon Woolf ft. Rob Rackstraw Trivia *After being repaired, Thomas has his paint scratched off since "The Adventure Begins". *References to two first season episodes, Thomas and Bertie's Great Race and Down the Mine, the third season episode, The Trouble with Mud, the sixth season episode, Percy's Chocolate Crunch the seventeenth episode, No More Mr. Nice Engine and the special, The Great Race are made. *The special reuses the score from Cars 3. *A flashback of Duck outside of Tidmouth Sheds talking to Thomas about what had happened since Racing Championship. *Hiro sings part of 'Somebody Has to be the Favorite' before his smartphone rings. *This special marks the first of several things: **The first special with "Go, Go, Thomas!" as the intro's theme song. **The first time the engines use their smartphones. Category:Series 15 Episodes Category:Specials